A Marriage Crushed by the Flood

When I had just made the call, the speakerphone was on, so Nathalia heard Victor comforting Kelsie.

Her pale face looked so miserable.

Her eyes were red and swollen from crying, and her chin quivered slightly.

It took her a while after the call had ended to muster the strength to speak, "There isn't a single good person in the Berry family."

We fell into silence at the same time, until her phone rang.

When she answered, Victor's irritable voice came through the receiver.

"How many times do I have to tell you to stay out of Donavan's business? Can't you understand? Veronica Gilmore is your best friend. How could she say anything good about Donavan?

"Donavan is a rescue team leader. Don't you think he knows how high the water level is? Can that even reach the second floor? Can you stop believing everything your best friend says and use your brain?

"Kelsie's legs cramped, and she almost drowned in the flood. Even if she were a stranger, we wouldn't just let her die!

"If you're going to act crazy and want a divorce because we saved someone, I have nothing more to say! Fine, then divorce! But the child will stay with me. I'm not letting a lunatic like you raise it!"

Nathalia hadn't even had a chance to say anything before the call was cut off, just like mine had been earlier.

We exchanged a glance, and without speaking, shared a bitter smile as tears welled up in our eyes.

From the moment the incident happened, we hadn't received a single word of concern.

There was only cold-hearted blame and angry resentment.

Even if Donavan didn't love me anymore, shouldn't he at least have asked about the baby?

But he did nothing. He just blocked my number.

Even when I called to ask for a divorce, he just hung up on me.

I did not doubt that if I had died in the flood, my funeral would have been scheduled after Kelsie's.

The bitterness in my heart grew.

If he never loved me, why did we get together in the first place?

I, Nathalia, and our children were all just pawns to fuel Kelsie's possessiveness, weren't we?

No one could answer that question for me, but the truth had always been there, plain as day.

When you could no longer feel love, leaving was the last shred of dignity an adult could cling to.

As the floodwaters gradually receded, Nathalia and I huddled on the same bed, scrolling through our phones.

The screen stopped on a photo of three people.

It was Kelsie's latest post.

Donavan was shirtless, showing off his well-toned eight-pack abs, a little pale from being in the floodwater.

Victor was in a doctor's coat, smiling softly.

The two men stood on either side of Kelsie, who looked completely safe and secure between them.

The caption read: [What does it feel like to be saved by the childhood sweetheart you once had a crush on?]

She didn't explicitly say it, but even the punctuation radiated ambiguity.

The comments section was filled with teasing banter.

[Hey, girl! You've been hiding this from us! Which one's your childhood crush? Come on, tell us. It's both, isn't it?]

[Where are all the romantic writers? Pick up your pens! I want to read a story about this today! A love triangle seems so exciting!]

Nathalia went quiet, zooming in on the picture.

Neither man had a wedding ring on his finger.

She gave a self-deprecating laugh. "Their jobs just gave them more opportunities, not wearing wedding rings, playing the hero, and saving the beauty in distress."

I rubbed my dry eyes, took a deep breath, and turned off my phone.

"Don't think too much about it. We've already decided to divorce. What they do now has nothing to do with us."

A few more days passed, and I gradually regained the ability to move normally.

I tried to contact Donavan with Nathalia's phone, but Nathalia had already been blocked.

I thought about asking Victor to pass on the message, but when I called him, I found I was blocked too.

It was as if they were afraid we'd intrude on their cozy little world of three.

I had no choice but to print out the divorce papers and mail them to them.

Five years of a relationship, and we couldn't even end it peacefully.

Since they didn't want to talk, I figured they could just sign.

The day after I sent the papers, Nathalia received a call from the courier.

After hanging up, she frowned and said irritably, "The courier said they left the rescue center yesterday. Most of the people there have already left."

I thought for a moment and then went with her to the hospital reception desk.

I called Donavan with the hospital's landline.

The phone only rang twice before he picked up immediately.

"Who's this?"

"It's me."

The patience in his voice instantly evaporated, replaced by irritation.

"Didn't I tell you I'm busy? Why'd you send me something? I don't have time to pick up packages! Can't you be more reasonable? Wait a second. Did you send that package just to find out where I was? Can't you be normal for once? I'm out here saving lives, not cheating on you!"

Before I could say anything, I was bombarded with accusations.

He glanced at his phone screen and his voice rose in fury.

"Why is this coming from the hospital's landline? What are you doing at Victor's workplace? You didn't go there to cause trouble, did you? Can't you leave others out of our issues?"

I forced myself to stay calm and said.

"You're overthinking it. I sent the divorce papers for you to sign, nothing else. The courier said you weren't at the rescue center, so I called to ask."

There was silence for a couple of seconds before he exploded in frustration.

"Divorce? Just because I blocked you and didn't answer your calls? I'm genuinely busy with work! You just stay at home all day long, letting your imagination run wild like some crazy person! I've told you before. Kelsie is just someone I happened to save. I didn't explain everything because I didn't want you to overthink it.

"I've been explaining myself for five years now. If there was anything between us, it would have happened already. I see her as a little sister, nothing more. Look, I'll help clean up Kelsie's place since it was flooded, and then I'll come home, okay?"

In the background, Kelsie's playful laugh drifted through the line.

"Did Veronica call you? You two are so sweet. Only girls who care about you get worried like that. No one ever worries about me like that.

"Oh, by the way, how has she been handling meals these past few days? Has she been managing okay?"

Donavan interrupted impatiently, "Stop talking about her. It's killing my mood. The property management won't let her starve. She's pregnant, so of course, she and the baby need nutrition."

At that moment, his familiar voice became utterly foreign to me.

I covered my mouth to stifle my sobs.

Nathalia snatched the phone from me and angrily hung up.

She reached over and gently patted my chest.

"Don't cry. He's not worth it!

"When the divorce is finalized, we'll leave them to it! Those three scumbags can make a movie out of their lives. I just feel so disgusted about it!"